


Where The Monster Won't Find You

by Lunar_Viper



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Anime)
Genre: Child Abuse, hurt and little comfort, non-graphic blood
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-28
Updated: 2019-12-28
Packaged: 2021-02-24 19:34:59
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,816
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22003330
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lunar_Viper/pseuds/Lunar_Viper
Summary: It was his uncle who had prompted him to leave and it was a young girl who helped him leave. Riley's Father's had become too much for him and he was constantly getting hurt, his choice to make it stop was to listen to his uncle.
Relationships: Gen | Riley and Original Character(s)
Kudos: 14





	Where The Monster Won't Find You

Riley resents both of his parents for everything they’re worth. He doesn’t remember his mother, but everything his father said about her was negative. All she had left for him was a plush Mienfoo she had sown while pregnant with him, a music box that reminds him of the lonely summer months, and a necklace with a locket and the key to the music box on it. Though his father? All his father left him with was a new bruise or scar whenever he did something wrong. He never felt safe at home; home didn’t even feel like home. To him, home was with his mother’s sister and brother. Those two were the ones who made sure the cuts didn’t get infected, and they were the ones who actually treats him like a child. His father was a man who treats children like young adults and thought they were forbidden to speak unless spoken to. If one were to say anything without being asked, they were smacked in the jaw. 

“Riley, is something bothering you?” his aunt asks. She watches as he fidgets with the locket. He is currently at his aunt’s apartment and was curled into her side. There’s a warm blanket draped around them as her brother had went into the kitchen to make the tea and cocoa. 

“Why is there no picture in this locket? and why did maman leave? Was she really as selfish as Père says she was?”

“Oh honey,” his aunt groans, “What all has that man told you?”

“He said she was a selfish bastard of a woman and-” he starts but is quickly cut off by his aunt.

“Riley Andre Krupin, you are not to say such words! You’re nine and your father needs to respect that,” his aunt yelps, “I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s bitter that he’s her second husband.”

Riley frowns, confused what his aunt is talking about, “Aunt Beatrice, what did I say that’s so wrong?”

“Oh you sweet child, your father truly has no filter, does he?” his aunt sighs, “I wish we could take care of you, but your father wouldn’t allow it. He has too much pride to admit he can’t care for a child. We’re fifteen years younger, yet we are fully capable to do so.”

“Don’t listen to him, Mariam was selfless. He’s a bitter old man who can’t accept she died. Your mother was sick and she didn’t tell him until the final months of her life. She didn’t like people waiting on her hand and foot or people treating her like glass,” his uncle spat as he walked back from the kitchen with three mugs in hand. He set one on the table before handing the other two to his sister and nephew. “Your mother never wanted to put either of you through the pain that she wouldn’t be with you soon.”

“Then why don’t you?” he asks. He felt bad now. Not only had he hated his mother for nothing she never did, his father also was lying to him. Was his mother now mad at him for hating her? 

“Because it wouldn’t be the best idea, your father could still hurt you or even take you back depending on the circumstances,” his uncle says, “Riley, if there were no repercussions, we would care for you in a heartbeat but your father is difficult and it’ll be hard to deal with any problems that happen in the future. Not to mention, both of us are leaving for Galar in a few weeks for work. I’m sorry, but we aren’t sure when we’ll be back either.”

Riley frowns, knowing it’ll be a while till they see each other again. “Is that why you wanted to talk?”

“Yes but we also wanted to get you away from your father,” his aunt answers. 

“Riley, when your father becomes too much to bear, promise me one thing,” his uncle says, holding out his pinky finger, “Promise me, that you’ll run. To us, to a friend, to  _ someone.  _ Riley, it hurts both of us to see you constantly get beat up like this by your father and not being able to do anything more than fix your cuts.”

“Why can’t I come with you, Uncle Albine? You can do something about it, can’t you?” he says, his naive words breaking their hearts. They wish they could do something, but their late sister’s husband has more money and power than they do. 

“Your father is a very powerful man, if we were to try anything, he could turn the tables and make us get into legal trouble instead,” Albine says softly, “Please, just promise me you’ll run. Your father is a terrible person. If it becomes too much, I’d rather see you run than endure whatever he puts you through.”

“Okay, I will,” Riley says softly, joining his pinky with his uncle. 

He smiled softly at his nephew and nodded, “Good. You mean the world to Bea and I, stay safe.” Little did they know that in less than three years, that’s exactly what he would do. 

*********

Riley is curled in on himself and crying softly as a rough and deep cut on his shoulder bled. The clock on the wall read eight forty-six, his father should be asleep by now. Either from drinking or working up his temper. He slowly got up to grab his backpack and the first-aid kit he kept in his drawer by his aunts request. He cleaned it as best he could before putting two large bandages on it. He couldn’t do much about it, and he couldn’t go to the hospital without getting in more trouble. He changed his shirt and put his jacket on. He needed to get away. He shoved the first aid kit, plush Mienfoo, and a small decorated box his aunt had given him before she left for Galar. He ached to bring the music box because it was the one thing that started bringing him comfort, but he had given it to his aunt and uncle so they had it as a way to remember him even when they promised to not forget about him. He grabbed the bag and leaves for his father’s office, a place where he kept many things from Riley. He remembered seeing a letter that was meant to be given to him but never was.

“Oh, where could it be?” he says, digging through drawers and papers on the desk. Then, he saw it. It was on the second highest shelf of the bookcase, being held up by a handmade vase. He needs to grab it but he couldn’t break the glass or he’d wake up his dad. Against his better judgment, he pushes the chair to the bookcase and stands on it. He smiles widely as he grabs it but yelps as the vase topples over and crashes to the ground. He hears his father yell his name and immediately bolts for the door. 

“Riley, what the hell are you doing! Didn’t you learn your lesson?” his father booms, making Riley’s eyes fill with tears and his body shake. He can’t turn back. Not now!

He darts for the door and tries to get away from the house as far as he could, even with his shoulder bleeding and the band aids no longer holding up to the injury. He had to get away, he promised his uncle he would. He let out a choked out sob as he is in one of the many alleyways in the large city. He wanted to just stay there and cry, but he had to get out of Lumiose. 

“Who’s there?” someone yells from the entryway of the alley. Riley shrinks in on himself, scared and confused on what to do. He doesn’t want to go back. His father will kill him if he goes back or scar him even more. “I know someone’s there, answer me!” Riley holds his breath as he heard footsteps get louder and closer. It was a girl who appears to be barely older than him with a Florges and Lucario behind her. She walks up to him and kneels down next to him.

“B-back away!” he cries, trying to kick her. 

“Hey, I’m not trying to hurt you. Your shoulder’s bleeding and you’re crying. Did you lose your way trying to go home?” she asks.

“No! No! Don’t make me go home! Please!” he sobs. He’s already pressed against the wall but he’s scared and unsure. When she got closer, he lashes out and nearly kicks her.

“Okay, okay… I can take you to my place and I can fix your shoulder there,” she says, offering him a hand.

He stills and looks at her with widened eyes. His breath caught in his throat, “You… won’t take me back home?”

She recognizes the boy as the same one her Lucario had accidentally jumped a few months ago. She offers him a hand up. “Only if you don’t want to,” she says, “Considering you just tried kicking me and you’re crying because you don’t want to go back, probably not a good idea to take you back.” Riley just nods as she helps him up, helping him get to her apartment.

When they get inside, she walks into a separate room to find a few things. Riley sat in the strange silence. It wasn’t calm, nor was it scary but the girl’s Pokémon were all staring at him. A few minutes later, she came back with a t-shirt, a jacket, a wash cloth, bandages, antiseptic, and a bowl of warm water.

“Take off the shirt and I can deal with your shoulder,” she says. He listens and she starts cleaning the gash on his shoulder along with putting on some antiseptic. 

“H-how do you know how to do this?” he asks softly.

“Practice. I was really dumb when I was a kid,” she says. 

Riley frowns, confused by the comment. “Aren’t you still a kid?” he asks.

“Fun fact, I am incredibly short and eighteen,” she says with a small laugh, “When I was thirteen, I accidently took on a Dragonite without Mawile or Florges and ended up with a cut on my forearm that I couldn’t take to a doctor without being yelled at, so I fixed my arm myself.”

Riley just nods and watched as she bandaged his shoulder. He looked at her. “Can you get me out of Kalos?” was all he said but was enough for the girl to see the problem.

She isn’t sure what to do. She lets this kid go, she faces losing her job and Augustine isn’t here to help her. If she doesn’t… then who knows what could happen to him. She takes a second to think before answering, “Yeah, let me just call someone. Is there somewhere specific?”

“Sinnoh,” Riley says. It was his mother’s favorite region, according to Beatrice, and he didn’t think it was wise to go Galar and disturb his aunt and uncle. Not to mention, they could get in trouble if he’s with them to begin with.

“Okay.” She gets up and heads into the kitchen where there was a phone and a book that seemed to be filled with multiple phone numbers. All Riley heard was “Hello? Yeah, it’s Eris, we need to talk,” before there was whispering and an exchange between the person on the other line. 

“Eris, I’m sorry but I can’t let you. Unless he has a family member there or one of his legal guardians, I simply cannot allow it. Have you talked to Professor Sycamore yet?” Rowan calmly states.

“No, I can’t! He’s in Kanto right now and this shouldn’t be his problem!” Eris argues. 

“You’re making it yours and you’ve just met the child.”

“Shut up, I don’t know kids well and I feel bad for him!”

“You pity him, Eris. It’s not a good look for you.”

“Augustine helped me when I needed it, I’ll help this kid since he needs it,” she says shakily, “He’s a kid, but he’s been abused and is trying to run away from home. Professor, I don’t want him to go back.”

“Eris, listen to yourself. Why are you so insistent on helping him?”

“I-I’d rather help him now than see him get hurt by his parents again and close people out completely.”

“You don’t want him to become like you, is what you’re saying,” Rowan states, but sounds like he’s asking for confirmation, “Your parents’ lack of care for you, Augustine’s lack of persistence in helping you, and you starting to close people off when you’re upset.”

“That’s not it, stop acting like you know everything about me!” she yells, “Rowan, please! Let me, I want to help him. This isn’t a safe place for him.”

“Call Child Protective Services and Professor Sycamore, talk to them about it and then we will talk about the child,” Rowan says sternly, “Have a good evening, Miss Phobos.”

“Rowan they won’t do jack-” her words died in her mouth. He hung up on her. He didn’t care at all. Eris wanted to scream. Rowan was so unreasonable at times. It made no sense! He adopted his grandson due to a similar situation of careless parents but the minute a kid was none of his concern, he didn’t care. He only cared for Lucas and the children in the League or of people in the league. 

Riley just grabs the plush and held it tight. With the help of his aunt, the week before she left, they put a perfume on it that had been his mother’s favorite. He was mad at himself for hating her for the past five years too. He thought she was someone who just didn’t want to take care of him and ran away, but it turned out she died of illness and his father never explained that to him. How could he have been so dumb?

“Please don’t make me go back,” he mutters to himself softly as he clutches the plush tightly. He hears Eris’s exasperated sigh and tired groan as she talked. He hopes that it wasn’t his fault, he didn’t want anyone else to be mad at him. 

“I just talked to Professor Rowan,” Eris says. “He says we can call CPS and see what they do. He also brought up talking it over with Professor Sycamore since he would be your main Professor, but there’s a lot of complications with talking to him. Not to mention, he won’t be back in Kalos till next week.” She can’t call Sycamore, being well aware he’s in Kanto with his family, so she can’t talk this out with him. 

“O-oh, I’m sorry,” he says softly. 

Eris glances at him. The kid’s scared, scarred, upset, and is in no position to go back home. “What happened at home for you to run and get that cut?”

Riley stares wide-eyed at her and curled on himself. “Peré was m-mad at me… I accidentally b-broke a g-glass plate a-and he… and h-he.” He didn’t finish before he started crying again. 

She sighs. Augustine can yell at her later. “I’m gonna buy you a ticket to Sinnoh, but your only rule is that you can’t tell people how you got it and if anyone asks why you’re in Sinnoh, just tell them that you’re visiting family.” Riley nods enthusiastically. He was finally get away from his father. She gives him a gentle smile but turns serious, “Just know, after buying your ticket, I can’t do anything else.”

“I know, but thank you for the help,” he says softly.

She glances to the Pokéballs on the table and grabs Lucario’s. Giving him a sullen look that he nods to, she returns him to the Pokéball. This alerts Mawile and she glares at her trainer, “Take Lucario with you. I know you two might not get along… but he knows that you need to stay away, and he’ll make sure to keep you safe,” she says softly, handing his Pokéball to Riley, “I just ask you to take care of him in return. He’s my family, I just want him to be safe too.”

“Ma’am-”

“Just call me Eris, I’m not a person anyone should look up to,”

“I-I can’t, it’s not right of me.”

“Well this isn’t quite legal either but it’s still happening. Just promise me, if we ever meet again, you’ll give him back,” she shrugs, “I have an old Pokédex you can use, it’s cracked, but it’ll do for now.”

“Thank you, Miss Eris.”

She scowls, “Kid, I’m in no way respectable. I may be older but I’m not a good person to look up to.”

“You’re the first person to help me like this… if you weren’t then why would you?”

She scoffs and shakes her head as she grabbed to old Pokédex. It’s similar to Sinnoh’s current one, a few key differences that set them apart but still practically identical. The screen’s cracked while the call and scanning function are completely broken. She hooks up to her current Pokédex and her computer, downloading the old information to her new one. She looks through the files and records and completely deleted the files of Lucario on her trainer files. She disconnects her current Pokédex and clears all the data from the old one. 

“What’s your name, kid? Don’t bother with your last,” she says.

“Riley…” he mumbles. He looks over her shoulder and sees her fill in his name along with a foreignlast name. The files of her Lucario are still on the computer, and she inputs them onto what is now his Pokédex along with revising the trainer status of Lucario. He’s longer her Pokémon but instead, he’s Riley’s and was given to him by Professor Castanea. “How are you allowed to do this?”

“Sycamore made it so I could when I first got my current one. He forgot to make it so I couldn’t edit files anymore last month after I transferred over the information.”

“How old is your current one then?”

“Two months old. I keep forgetting to take it out of my pockets when I train with Helena, so it ends up getting scratched when it falls out,” she grumbles, “Sycamore gave me a new one because I had broken that one so much.”

“Why do you say you’re a bad person if you’re helping me?”

“Well my family must’ve left me for some reason,” she laughs.

“I think you’re a good person.”

“Don’t lie to yourself,” she says. She hands him the Pokédex. “Let’s just go before your dad comes looking for you.” Riley just nods softly and follows her out the door, bag and Pokédex in hand with Lucario’s ball in his pocket. He isn’t sure on what to think about Eris, but he knows that he’ll owe her later on.

*********

Eris lets out a shrill scream as she collapses on the ground of her small apartment. Professor Rowan was getting on her nerves. This whole situation makesher think about how Augustine and her parents kept leaving her with broken promises and straight up lies. She’s sick of this feeling of dread and hate. She sobs as she sits on the floor, her body shaking and hunched over. 

“Gall… Gallade?” All of her Pokemon surround her, giving small questioning looks and noises. Their trainer’s upset and Lucario’s gone. 

“Mawile! Ile Ma Ma Mawile!” her Mawile angrily yells. She’s mad and has the look of betrayal in her eyes as she looks at Eris. Mawile just gave away Lucario even though she said he was family! She couldn’t believe her and felt lied to.

Eris just cries harder, “I-I know! I’m stupid and I don’t know what I’m doing! Just leave if you’re mad at me!” She shakes violently. Her parents left her, and she wouldn’t blame Mawile if she does the same. “H-he was hurting, Rowan keeps saying everything I already know, and… I just didn’t know what else to do. That boy has scars that are older. If they didn’t intervene then, they wouldn’t now!”

Mawile had no interest in her words and just glares at her she walked around her and attempted to leave but was stopped by Gallade. As much as she knew that she could’ve done something else, she knew that they could waste a lot of time. 

“Gallade… Gall,” he says to the smaller Pokemon. Mawile has half a mind to fight him but hears Whimsicott and Florges worried words to their trainer. She hears Eris’s sobbing and her begging for them to forgive her. Lucario and her were the first Pokemon she had and the only two to have helped her when her parents told her empty promises. She waited days, that turned into weeks, which turned into months, and became years for her parents to come home like they promised. Instead what came after so many, was a box with all the letters that she’s ever written to them. They were all unopened and there was a note on top from her mother, telling her that she needed to focus on going to school instead of wasting her life on battles. She closed everyone out after that. Professor Augustine stopped trying to talk to her and gave her too much space that she never needed. The only thing that stayed the same was her Pokemon. For them to leave her, it would make her break. She didn’t want that and she’s mad at herself for just giving away Lucario like that. 

“Mawile,” she grumbles. She agrees to stay but she expects Eris to be better than what she has been.

“I’m so sorry…” She stands up and wipes away the tears, “I don’t know what I was thinking, you four. I can’t tell Sycamore, he’ll be mad. I can’t forget Lucario either, but I have to act like I do and I might actually forget him then.”

Gallade smacks Mawile across the head, “Gallade! Gall Gallade Lade!” he yells. Eris is upset as it is, Mawile’s words to her and attempt to leave was not helping. He wished he could do something to help his trainer, but she was upset and distraught. Now, they would just have to sit and watch the events play out. He walks up to Eris and patted her head, much like she would do when they’re upset, “Gallade.” He promises to help his trainer in any way if it meant she would be happy again.

“Thank you, Gallade,” she mutters softly. Whimsicott jumps into her arms and nuzzles her as Florges hugs her. Mawile still glares at her and heads into a different room, still very upset with her trainer. Eris wishes she could do something but Mawile doesn’t care and ignores her completely. For now, they can only wait and hope things improve.

**Author's Note:**

> So this story had to come out before the new chapter of the chat fic, hence why I haven't updated in over a week, because of some of the topics that will come up in the new chapter and stuff that will come up in later chapters and even later stories. The new chapter should be out later today.
> 
> I have a blog now that's actually meant from my AO3 now, by the way! https://www.tumblr.com/blog/lunar-requests-a-battle


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